


Poking the Lion

by Sarcastic_Raspberry



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Defenders of Tomorrow
Genre: Defenders of tomorrow - Freeform, Gen, leakira - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 12:44:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16367951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarcastic_Raspberry/pseuds/Sarcastic_Raspberry
Summary: The first and only "episode" I plan to produce for this AU.





	Poking the Lion

The engine of Leandro’s lightcycle screamed, faithfully supporting him as he raced down the road. Dodging around the occasional car proved to be exceptionally easy, allowing him to enjoy the scenery for the most part. Sensations of cold wind smothering his face paired with his jacket pounding against his back surrounded him as the cave like structure he moved through broke out into a cliff. The various lights and signs that were visible from where he rode on the higher streets seemed to taunt him in that they appeared so far away. 

While pondering them further, he almost ran into an unseen threat. This “threat” was of course meaning another cyclist.

He opened his mouth to yell as he began to gain on the bike, when he noticed the red color and a snake’s silhouette on the dented rear.

With a smile, he pulled forward completely, sitting up on his bike to look the other rider in the eye.

“Akira!” he shouted in mock glee, “Thought your  _ daddy _ told you to stay away from restricted areas?”

Instead of responding verbally, Akira shifted his eyes to glare at him through his goggles. 

“Come on,” Leandro said, laughing a little, “I guess it’s the fastest way around but-”

He was cut off as Akira moved forward, pulling in front of him in an attempt to move on. Leandro stared after him for a second before letting out a boisterous laugh and racing to keep up.

“Pana,” he called in, bringing her face up in a small green window on his visor.

_ “Yo!” _ she said, voice a bit stilted as she looked up from whatever was on the table in front of her. _ “Do you have my dampener!?” _

“On my way to get it and you won’t guess who showed up,” he brought his hand off of the bike’s handles to tap the side of his helmet.

The feed obviously transferred to Pana, as her eyes widened and she adjusted her green lense. Leaning forward to the point of her face being half way out of the frame, she squawked with glee and leaned back.  _ “Akira!” _

The red bike in front of him jittered, stumbling to the side as a screen opened up from the front panel.

“P-Pana!” the rider screamed.

_ “What you can still see!” _ she said, Leandro hearing it from the bike as well as his helmet.  _ “Tch- you should let me make you a helmet like Leandro’s. It’d be way better than automatically calling you through your bike’s display.” _

“Wouldn’t be a problem at all if you let me pick up instead of patching yourself through.”

The last part was barely mumbled, growing louder in volume as Leandro approached from behind.

She ignored him however, instead asking,  _ “Why didn’t you tell us your dad ungrounded you!?” _

“I wans’t grounded! I’m an  _ adult!  _ I don’t get  _ grounded!” _

_ “Did you tell your dad that?” _

“Ugh-  I saw your post about needing a dampener, here I am- who cares?”

_ “Wait a minute, who’s that?” _ the new voice that came through was deeper, the source not obvious until Hawk leaned into view. The large man stared doe-eyed through a pair of magnifying lenses before lifting them up and laughing.  _ “Akira! Long time no see!” _

“Hey, how come  _ I _ never get the welcome wagon, huh?” Leandro asked.

_ “We always see you,”  _ Hawk wore a hapless smile on his face as he spoke, causing Leandro to sag against his bike.  _ “So- you guys are getting the dampener, right?” _

“Checkin’ out the usual yard right now,” Akira shifted a look towards Leandro, “or I  _ was.” _

“Hey, I’m not stopping you,” he said.

_ “Yeah you two could even work together,” _ Pana said,  _ “You know- cut search time in half?” _

“Yeah!” Leandro said, “And then, you can get your own parts and tell us where you really go on the weekends, huh?”

_ “Ha ha,”  _ her tone was humorous as she returned to whatever screen illuminated her left side.

Hawk leaned in behind her, causing a cup to clatter onto its side.

He scrambled to pick it up, though nothing had spilled out.

“Smooth,” Leandro said.

_ “I was trying to look at your fuel usage- have you been customizing your bike’s engine?” _

_ “I did,” _ Pana chirped, not looking up.

“Look, if you’re gonna nerd talk, I need to get going. Have fun talking to-”

“Leandro!”

Akira’s yell was joined by a hand wrapping tightly around the upper arm of his jacket, jerking him to the side and pulling Leandro’s bike into his own. This brought them both to steer off the road before crashing down to the hard dirt of the roadside. Leandro’s own teeth clanked together roughly, his legs going over his head. Though her screen had glitched off in the crash, Pana’s screaming over the coms rang in his ears, as he pulled himself up wards.

In the middle of the road, two figures sat atop a foreign vessel. The one in front, seemingly the pilot, looked down at them both with their face faintly illuminated by the dim lights of their cycle.

The one in the back prodded the pilot’s shoulders in a silent plea to keep moving.

Seeing this, Leandro pulled himself up and scrambled to a kneeling position, shouting a vague noise before finally, “H-  _ Hey! _ Get- Get back here!”

“Let them go,” Akira growled, “It’s not their fault.”

“Are you kidding!? They should have seen us!”

“You were the one who wanted to talk instead of looking at the road- don’t blame them.”

“I thought you’d be against a  _ hit and run, _ ‘Junior Detective  _ D-” _

“Don’t finish that sentence if you want to-”

_ “G- Guys! Guys!” _ Pana’s screams continued radiating from the speakers.  _ “Police signal- incoming-” _

“Oh look- your Dad’s coming to get you,” Leandro snickered, picking up his bike and checking it over in preparation to get back on the road. “Looks like you’re gonna be grounded for another mo-”

He was cut off as he was knocked to the side, air leaving his lungs when he hit the ground once more. He shoved Akira off quickly, allowing the brawl to devolve into a pattern of grapples and sloppy hits as they moved on the ground.

Leandro’s helmet came off, Pana’s voice leaving him along with his senses as he kneed upwards into Akira’s stomach.

They swarmed around each other, eventually rolling into the road. Once on the pavement, Leandro picked Akira up by his coat, slamming him backwards while Akira used that same coat to his advantage. It was oversized on his scrawny frame, allowing him to wrench his arm out of the right sleeve before bashing the side of Leandro’s face with the side of his fist.

Leandro leaned back and prepared for a strike, but was cut off when the glare of the fight cleared from his vision to reveal flashing blue and red lights from behind him.

He flopped backwards, raising his hands while Akira winded back and kicked him off entirely. He too raised his hands, right arm still free of its sleeve.

The lights switched off.

Though they were momentarily blinded by the difference in lighting, they instantly recognized the officer’s voice.

“Wow,” Riku said, throwing in a long whistle. “What happened here?”

\--

“Ow!” Leandro hissed, peroxide biting him as it entered his wound.

“Hold still,” Riku said, leaning closer to his face while Akira sat already bandaged behind him on the twin workshop table. Said tables were located inside of Riku’s garage, a place Leandro greatly prefered to jail. “You two are lucky I was up there tonight.” He threw the cotton ball he was working with into the trash, diggin in his kit for a bandage.

As it was placed on his cheek, Leandro considered throwing him off and insisting on doing it by himself. He ended up allowing it, the comfort of Riku’s cool, metal hand soothing the now-dull sting of the peroxide.

“Wouldn’t wanna see you two on the news. ‘Two idiots found racing near recent construction zone, endangering any and all in their wake. They somehow managed to pound each other to a sad pulp, though responding officer described them to our network as ‘boney’ and ‘unintimidating.’”

“Yeah we get it,” Leandro said, raising his chin. “We weren’t ‘endangering’ anyone, anyway.”

“Excuse me,” Riku asked, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms. “You were riding at dangerously high speeds near areas recently under construction- or did you miss that?”

“Yeah! They were labeled as  _ restricted.” _

“So you think that means you can just ride in there!?”

Leandro smirked, “Means there’s no one around to hurt.”

Riku groaned, rubbing at his face with his organic hand before closing up the first aid kit and placing it on one of the less messy shelves.

“Go ahead, Leandro. You still staying with Pana and Hawk?”

“Yeah,” he said, slipping off of the table top and dusting his pants. “Why?”

“Just… just making sure.”

“Aw, were you worried about me having somewhere to sleep tonight? You and Adam willing to-”

“Offer up the couch? Yeah,” Riku laughed. “Come on, get out of here, but you’re going right back to them, got it? I don’t need you to get arrested right after I patched you up.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t go smudging up your record,” Leandro said.

He was about to leave entirely when Riku reached out and shoved something into his hand.

Looking down, he saw a note for ten credits.

He raised the note with a smirk, asking, “Are you paying me to break laws now? Because Pana already does that.”

“That’s bus fair,” Riku said. A smile appeared on his face when Leandro’s own disappeared, and he gave him a final clap on the shoulder before returning to the garage.

“Wait- wait!” Leandro said, “What about my bike?”

“This  _ death trap _ you and Pana arranged from stolen parts? It’s lucky to be in one piece after the crash. Get going- the last bus should be leaving the station in about half an hour- and it’s almost three miles away.

Leandro looked like he was going to argue further when he spotted the wreck of a lightcycle still situated by Akira’s. They’d been lucky to fasten it in the trunk at all, even more so that Akira’s was in good enough condition to make it back.

Giving in with a groan, Leandro started running down the road with a final yell of “Shit!”

Riku snickered, closing the garage with the press of a button and switching on the light.

“And you-” he addressed Akira, “gotta call your dad.”

“Why? He doesn’t need to know where I am.”

“Aren’t you a little old for your rebellious phase?”

“I’m serious, he  _ doesn’t.  _ Ever since I turned eighteen he’s been- ugh, nevermind, you don’t need to hear about this.” He hopped down from the counter, stalking towards the garage door opener with a purpose before Riku’s hand came over his shoulder.

“Hey- Akira,” he said, “You know that you’re like a little brother to me- and I’m always gonna be here for you- but everything you’re feeling against your dad right now,” he took in a quick breath, thinking as he glanced around for just a moment before focusing on Akira again. “You’re lucky to have a dad like him around to make sure you’re okay.”

Akira glared, allowing the silence to close in on them until he let out a firm sigh and shook off Riku’s hand.

“Okay, fine,” he said. “I’ll just drive back home then.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he even smiled, “I’ll be fine.”

Riku returned his smile before his face lit up.

“Oh yeah-” he hissed, turning around and picking a small necklace off of the filing cabinet of tools that intersected the table. “Don’t forget this.”

Akira raised an eyebrow, not taking it as he asked, “What is it?”

“Not yours?” Riku asked, frowning when Akira shook his head. “Guess it must be Leandro’s. Crap, he’s probably halfway to the station, huh?”

“I’ll drive by him probably,” he said.

“Yeah, and he’d  _ probably  _ ask for a ride back,” Riku laughed, “I’ll hang onto it. If it’s important, he’ll come back for it tomorrow. If it’s not, I’ll drop it off when I stop by to ask Pana if she can look at my arm.”

Akira glared as he said, “I thought Adam was fine fixing it for you.”

“He is but it’s been locking up on the fingers every now and again- sometimes two fingers will move the same way when I don’t want them to- stuff like that. He says it’s something to do with the partial sensory…” he trailed off, thinking for a moment. “Or maybe it was the partial nerves? Something like that- point is he can’t figure it out, and it won’t kill me to let her take a look.”

“Maybe not this time,” Akira said, pounding the button to the garage door, “but if you give an inch, I don’t think she’ll stop at a mile.”

Riku laughed at that, saying, “I’ll keep that in mind,” as he waved Akira off.

Both of them missed the slow, steady beat of the necklace behind them as it glowed three times in the darkness.

It was as if it was reaching out for something.

Or as if something was reaching out for it.


End file.
